Resilient Medvedev keeps alive outside hopes of ending year ranked No 1

ATP1000 Paris | Draw | Schedule | 3rd round

It will take a remarkable effort – and a bit of a collapse from the man currently at the top – but Daniil Medvedev kept alive his outside chances of ending the year ranked world No 1 for the first time thanks to a typically gutsy performance at the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday.

The US Open champion dropped the first set to Sebastian Korda but came roaring back to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 and claim his place in the quarter-finals of the last Masters 1000 event of the year, keeping him in the hunt, mathematically at least, in the race to end the year as the world’s No 1-ranked player.

Korda snatched the first set thanks to one break in the 10th game but Medvedev raced through the second and though he faltered when serving for the match at 5-2 in the third, he broke again in the next game to set up a clash with Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz or Frenchman Hugo Gaston.

With Djokovic now into the quarter-finals, Medvedev must at least reach the semis to keep his hopes alive. And with Turin offering plenty more points, it’s still a huge outside bet. But for now, at least, the Djokovic champagne is on ice.

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